We will get to all the rest. Before we do that, I want you to do me a favor. Depending on your money situation, do one of these two tasks right now:
- Arrange to have your car shipped to Germany. Go to the starting line of the Autobahn. Find the Amyl and the Sniffers song called "Some Mutts (Can't Be Muzzled)" and queue it up. Snort a kilo of cocaine, hit play, and hit the gas so hard that your sweet Kia rears up on its back wheels like one of those Fast & Furious drag races and before the song ends your engine lights on fire and sinks into the core of the Universe.
- Put in some noise canceling earpods, strap on your fastest running shoes, queue up the song, and before you die from pure overexertion and exhaustion, pump your fist to God and thank him for this song.
One Liner: Unmuzzled, brute-force punk and roll riffage (in a great way)
Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 4
Both Weekends.
Friday at 4:30
American Express Stage
Thoughts: That schedule is sort of a bum deal. Like, three of the best things on this entire poster are Amyl at 4:30, Grocery Bag at 5:15, and Turnstile at 6:15. Back-to-back like that means that you really can't get into the front for all three. Which would be way better - watching this from the chair area would be a crime.
For some reason, I had it in my head that they were Amyl and the Night Sniffers. Where did that extra word pop into my brain?
Anyway, before we get to the albums, let's talk about the band. The name comes from slang for amyl nitrite, also known as poppers. In a BBC interview, lead singer Amy said: "In Australia we call poppers Amyl. So you sniff it, it lasts for 30 seconds and then you have a headache – and that's what we're like!" The four original members were housemates who decided to give a band a shot, and one guy left after the first EP and was replaced.
As you can tell, I dig the band. So, I have actually reviewed all three albums over the years. Their debut was my #5 album for all of 2019. Amyl and the Sniffers won the ARIA (Aussie music awards) for Best Rock Album and was nominated for other awards. Here is what I had to say:
The opening track and the closing track on this album are both the highly-concentrated perfect concoction to get my blood pumping. The band absolutely crushes a heavy groove in both "Starfire 500" and "Some Mutts (Can't Be Muzzled)," and I am extremely here for it. The vocals can get a little yell-y over time, but the deep, dark, fuzzed out rock and roll is worth every penny. Australian band, and the lead singer's name is Amy Taylor, which makes me grin just because its such a plain jane name despite her bruising vocals. Surprisingly, "Got You" is the top streamer, at 651k. [now up to 14.1 million in 2026]
A blast of punk fury with a very freaking weird video that looks like lost archival footage of something freaky from 1983. "Gacked on Anger" sounds very much like she is repeatedly saying that she "gagged on dick" (or at least that is what I hear, which is probably unfortunate). Because I get to make the rules around here, I'm going to give you another song so that you can hear one of my favorites as well. This is "Some Mutts (Can't Be Muzzled)." [7.4 million streams in 2026]
560k views on that video, 464k streams on Spotify. The intro is enough to get me jacked up and run through a brick wall for sure. I know its a pretty basic package of riff-tastic rock, but I'll be damned if those riffs don't work like drugs to my brain. My Daily Commute mix put this on two days ago while I was driving home, and if there hadn't been eighty billion cars in front of me on Mopac at the time, I would have driven 120 miles an hour to Canada immediately. I keep singing it in my head and banging my head around and then needing to fix my hair, while at work. This shit is going to get me in trouble. "Shake Ya" also provides a similar package of riffs, even if the overall tune isn't quite as awesome. Keeping this one for sure.
In 2021 (likely after the good, old COVID break), they released Comfort to Me. My review:
Amyl and the Sniffers - Comfort to Me. Their last album was an absolute banger. Just an unhinged blast of ridiculously overcharged angry bashing. "Some Mutts" is a classic. This one has some of that same flavor, but nothing in here is so perfectly pitched as those tracks on the first one. Although I really like "Security" and her yelling at the pub's security about how she's NOT THAT DRUNK! Makes me grin. I love the guitars and the pounding drums, and her kick ass Aussie accent adds a perfect flavor for these tunes. The top track is "Hertz" with 2.9 million streams. [now up to 36.8, their top streamer overall]
I very much appreciate the way the singer just looks like someone who would scream about not being that drunk or yelling at me to climb into the backseat because that is where she'll be waiting. The lyrics literally could be a country song - "take me to the beach, take me to the country, come in the backseat, if you love me." I can hear Maren Morris singing that in a nice country lilt right now. But there ain't nothing nice or lilted about that tune right there, just an angry fuzzy blast of deranged love. "No More Tears" kinda sounds like classic REM when it starts. "Laughing" cracks me up because of the weird slang she is using, saying that she is dressed "daggy." The google says that "daggy" means unkempt or scruffy. Enjoyable album anyway, but not nearly as essential as the last one.
Something about that Australian accent, man. We are currently watching a very ridiculous murder-mystery-cop-show on Prime called Deadloch, which is based in Australia, and one of the characters pretty much just cusses in a deeply thick Aussie accent and I can usually just barely pick up which body parts she is cussing about. Also, "Guided by Angels" is another rip-roarer from that album up above. Unhinged guitar riffage.
Finally, we get to 2024's Cartoon Darkness.
Amyl and the Sniffers - Cartoon Darkness. "Some Mutts (Can't Be Muzzled)" is the track that caught me in the Sniffers' net a few years back, and while nothing on here is as viscerally, ridiculously amazing for me, it is another patch of skuzzy punky rock bashing. The album opener, which I somehow actually heard on terrestrial radio the other day, is just so amazingly rude and weird, I need to tell you the lyrics.You're a dumb cunt, you're an assholeEvery time you talk, you mumble, grumblesNeed to wipe your mouth after you speak'Cause it's an asshole, bum hole, dumb cuntYou are ugly all day, I am hot alwaysYou are just a critic and you want to hit itYou are fucking spiders, I am drinking ridersDon't wanna be stuck in that negativityKeep jerkin' on your squirterYou will never get with meI don't wanna be stuck inside that negativityKeep jerkin' on your squirterYou will never get with me, yeahI have to say, the lyric "keep jerkin' on your squirter" is really going to stick with me for a long time. That is just A LOT. But as soon as that one is over, "Chewing Gum" has a super-catchy set of lyrics bopping over the top of a nice little Madchester-ish rock track. Super fun. Sadly, I don't get to show you the "Jerkin'" video, which is something (especially if you hunt down the uncensored version), because "U Should Not Be Doing That" is winning the stream wars with 10.2 million. [now up to 24.5 million in 2026]Her dance moves crack me up. It's like an almost TikTok-ian rapper vibe, but while she's spouting these angry lyrics. But again, I find the tune itself to be very catchy and groovy. That bassline gets me moving. Same with the breakneck chorus portion of "Do It Do It." This stuff is fun and ridiculous. Give it all to me.
I'm sure that I will look ridiculous if I try to get up there in the thick of the pit and jump around and make a go at being youthful and ready to rock during this show, but I'll be damned if I don't really want to try. I can just imagine a Friday afternoon in which I tear an Achilles and have the best afternoon of my life with Amyl and then Turnstile. Worth it.
